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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Remember what I planned with my mom's co-workers for her past birthday? Well, today it was my turn to fall "victim" to the generosity of her office. I went into her workplace today to play Santa's "cookie elf" with the boxes of goodies I made this weekend after a Christmas lunch with a few of the ladies... well, lunch was eaten and we arrived back at the office, where I asked how people wanted to handle the handouts (last year my mom and I wandered the office with napkins and cookie tins!).

Well, call me slow, but I believed what I was told when one of my dear friends (and best customers) Magdalena replied that it would be best if I waited until 2ish to start making the rounds since most of the office's employees were in an end-of-year meeting. Okay, I reasoned, it was only 20 minutes... and I was kinda drowsy anyways after lunch so I dozed in one of the oversized "wheely" chairs my mom had in her cubicle. What do I know about the way these people plan anyways?? I don't do offices!

Mom roused me at 2ish, and I grabbed one of the many cookie tins and set out towards the "central" floor area of the office where we knew people would find them... well, people didn't find the cookies - I found the people! A huge crowd of people (most of whom I only really knew by reputation, or not at all!) had gathered in wait. After exclamations of glee over the new cookie bounty (and the subsequent raiding of the tins) calmed down (that to-do was a gift to me in itself... most of you know how it feels to have your cooking be appreciated!), one of the women stepped forward.

She presented me with an envelope and gave a short, but perfect speech thanking me for all the baked goods that I had been sending their way over the past couple years, mentioning how they often made the long days of her and her co-workers bearable and how much they all appreciated me taking the time and money out of my day to think of them. My jaw dropped... I was (and still am) flabbergasted. Astonished. Incredulous. And incredibly grateful.